Washington, February 15 (ANI): Scientists at Michigan State University have found that a natural probiotic supplement can help male mice produce healthier bones, indicating to an early step toward new treatments for people with osteoporosis.

But the same can't be said for female mice, the researchers said.

"We know that inflammation in the gut can cause bone loss, though it's unclear exactly why. The neat thing we found is that a probiotic can enhance bone density," said lead author Laura McCabe, a professor in MSU's departments of Physiology and Radiology.

Probiotics are microorganisms that can help balance the immune system. For the study, the researchers fed the mice Lactobacillus reuteri, a probiotic known to reduce inflammation, a sometimes harmful effect of the body's immune response to infection.

"Through food fermentation, we've been eating bacteria that we classify as probiotics for thousands of years. There's evidence that this bacterium as a species has co-evolved with humans. It's indigenous to our intestinal tracts and is something that, if missing, might cause problems," said co-author Robert Britton, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

In the study, the male mice showed a significant increase in bone density after four weeks of treatment. There was no such effect when the researchers repeated the experiment with female mice, an anomaly they're now investigating.

Drugs to prevent bone loss in osteoporosis patients are already in wide use, but over the long term they can disrupt the natural remodeling of bone tissue and could potentially have negative side effects that include unusual bone fractures and joint and muscle pain.

McCabe and Britton are quick to point out that this line of research is in its early stages and that results in mice don't always translate to humans.

But they're hopeful the new study could point the way toward osteoporosis drugs that aren't saddled with such side effects, especially for people who lose bone density from an early age because of another chronic condition.

The researchers reported their finding in the Journal of Cellular Physiology. (ANI)